Bicyclist hit by school bus - 8th and President

caaahyoko

Wow, 8 people this year. I guess with more people cycling this year comes the unfortunate increase in accidents.

parkslopecynic

hmm. Ghost bike. What happens if i don't desire to see such several times a day forever? That makes me a bad person? Pro-car? No thanks. Plant a tree instead.

jh

I have a bike I'd like to donate, what can I do?

pitu

8thandPrez wrote: [quote=Drunken Revival]I hear you 8thandprez.. however, I still think your photo perpetuates a problem with our culture.

Did you know that the "single largest increase in expenditures for low income household over the past 20 years was for audio and visual entertainment equipment" - The American.

The problem is this notion of "pictures or it didn't happen".. and furthermore, that a damn picture or visual in the news proves anything (See the visually enhanced Beijing Olympics opening ceremonies or the term "airbrush").

Prez, why does whether he died or not matter? Why is that the determining factor of whether or not to leave up the picture? What if he was crippled or deformed? What then?

The fact is a lot of terrible things happen everyday and nobody is snapping photos.. guess what.. it still happens.

I just don't see how a blood stain beneath the back tire of a bus contributes to the discussion on bikes and bike safety other than to sensationalize a topic which, in an ideal world, would need no sensation. I think it is over the top, insensitive, and disrespectful to the family of the victim (who could have likely identified the victim based on the pictured bike and the noted time of the accident).

It contributed to the discussion because that is what happened. He wasn't hit and killed in some abstract world and hiding it away behind words only removes us from the awful reality of the situation. We are visual animals and have eyes for a reason. I think the real problem with our society is the constant need to sanitize reality. Do you think we'd have gone gangbusters into Iraq if we actually saw the horrors of war instead of censoring every image? What would your response have been to 9/11 if you had seen the actual scene on the ground (which we most certainly did not, by the way)?

There is nothing wrong with bearing witness and I see nothing disrespectful about posting the image. You could just as easily say that posting the photo relieved many families of the worry that their family member was the one involved in the accident.

I removed the photo after his death was reported because the photo no longer seemed important to the post. I posted it when it had just happened and there were a lot of unanswered questions about the incident.

8thPrez, I had the urge to star your post just now...
I didn't see the picture, but I agree with your take on images and sanitizing horror.

pitu

jh wrote: I have a bike I'd like to donate, what can I do?

they use junk bikes ( http://www.ghostbikes.org/howto )
so there's probably better places to donate

To ParkslopeCynic:
I love the ghost bikes - I like the remembrance, and the reminder.
And since there's always bikes tied up to stuff, I don't think it's a slap in anyone's face...
pretty subtle, actually. I think that's why they are so effective.

R.I.P.

rockergirl77

I heard there's a ghost bike on the corner now. I'm so glad they put one up.

ringrunner

ghost bike

From ghost bike

rockergirl77

Thanks for posting, ringrunner. I'll have to go put new flowers on it this week.